Hiphop Tamizha - #Tamizhi | Episode 4 | The Sangam Era
Summary
TLDRThe script explores the rich history of the Tamil language, dating back 2500 years, and its continuous use through inscriptions and literature. It highlights archaeological findings, such as memorial stones and pot sherds with Tamil inscriptions, which confirm the literacy and civilization of ancient Tamil people. Excavations in Keezhadi reveal urban civilization and the existence of a government, contradicting previous beliefs. The script also connects ancient Tamil inscriptions with names of kings from Sangam literature, proving the historical accuracy of these texts and the advanced society of the time.
Takeaways
- 📜 The Tamizh language and script have been in use for over 2500 years, as evidenced by deciphered inscriptions.
- 🌐 The Sangam literature, which discusses ancient Tamizh language and culture, is not a myth but a reflection of the ancient people's way of life.
- 🏺 Memorial stones found in Tamil Nadu, particularly those from the 4th Century BC in Pulimaankombai, confirm the use of the Tamizh script during the Sangam era.
- 📝 The pure Tamizh language found on these stones, without any Prakrit influence, indicates a high level of literacy among ancient Tamizh people.
- 🏛️ Archaeological excavations in Tamil Nadu have revealed a rich script culture, with over 800 pot sherds and coins bearing Tamizh inscriptions.
- 🏢 The Keezhadi excavation near Madurai provided evidence of urban civilization in ancient Tamil Nadu, contradicting previous beliefs.
- 🏆 The discovery of coins from the Keezhadi excavation suggests the existence of a government and organized polity in ancient Tamil Nadu.
- 👑 Names of kings mentioned in Sangam literature, such as Nedunchezian, have been found in Tamizh inscriptions, proving the historical existence of these rulers.
- 🔍 The script found on pot sherds and other materials indicates a literate society where even common people were well-versed in writing.
- 🌟 The Graffiti script found in both the Indus Valley Civilization and Tamil Nadu shows a striking similarity, hinting at cultural or historical connections.
Q & A
What is the significance of the Tamizh language and script as discussed in the script?
-The Tamizh language and script are significant because they have been in use for over 2500 years, as evidenced by the deciphering of ancient inscriptions. This makes it one of the oldest languages still in use today.
How do the ancient Tamizh inscriptions prove the existence of the Sangam literature?
-The ancient Tamizh inscriptions prove the existence of the Sangam literature by showing that the language and script discussed in these ancient texts were actually used by people at the time, thus validating the historical and cultural accounts provided by the literature.
What is the importance of the memorial stones found in Pulimaankombai?
-The memorial stones found in Pulimaankombai are important because they are among the most ancient memorial stones ever found in India, dating back to the 4th Century BC. They contain inscriptions in pure Tamizh without any Prakrit language influence, which supports the idea that the Tamizh script and language were well-established during the Sangam era.
How do the pot sherds with Tamizh inscriptions contribute to our understanding of ancient Tamizh society?
-The pot sherds with Tamizh inscriptions indicate a high literacy rate among the common people in ancient Tamizh Nadu. This suggests that writing was a part of everyday life and not just limited to the elite or rulers.
What evidence did the Keezhadi excavation provide for the existence of an urban civilization in ancient Tamizh Nadu?
-The Keezhadi excavation provided evidence for the existence of an urban civilization in ancient Tamizh Nadu by uncovering brick constructions, which are characteristic of urban civilizations, and coins, which indicate the presence of a government or ruling authority.
Why were historians skeptical about the existence of a civilized kingdom during the Sangam era?
-Historians were skeptical about the existence of a civilized kingdom during the Sangam era because not many brick constructions, which are indicative of urban civilization, were found in previous excavations in Tamizh Nadu.
What does the term 'Second Urbanization' refer to in the context of the script?
-The term 'Second Urbanization' refers to the period following the Indus Valley civilization, where urban civilizations are believed to have developed further. The Keezhadi excavation challenged the notion that Tamizh Nadu did not experience this phase of urban development.
How do the inscriptions found in Keezhadi confirm the existence of kings mentioned in Sangam literature?
-The inscriptions found in Keezhadi include the names of kings mentioned in Sangam literature, such as King Nedunchezian, providing strong evidence that these kings and the civilization they ruled over were real and not merely mythological.
What was the mystery surrounding King Athiyamān and how was it resolved?
-The mystery surrounding King Athiyamān was whether he was the same person referred to as 'Sadhiyabudho' by King Ashoka. This was resolved by an inscription found near Thagadur, confirming that Ashoka indeed referred to Athiyamān by this name.
What does the script found in the Indus Valley Civilization have in common with the script found in Tamizh Nadu?
-The script found in the Indus Valley Civilization, referred to as 'Graffiti,' is almost the same as the Graffiti found in Tamizh Nadu, suggesting a possible cultural or linguistic connection between the two regions.
Outlines
📜 Ancient Tamil Language and Script
The paragraph discusses the continuity of the Tamil language and script over 2500 years, highlighting the importance of deciphering Tamil inscriptions as evidence of this continuity. It emphasizes the significance of Sangam literature and the discovery of memorial stones, particularly those found in Pulimaankombai, which are dated back to the 4th Century BC. The script on these stones is pure Tamil without any Prakrit influence, indicating a high level of literacy among the ancient Tamil people. The paragraph also touches upon the cultural practices reflected in Sangam literature and how these inscriptions provide tangible proof of the ancient Tamil civilization.
🏺 Tamil Inscriptions and Civilization
This section delves into the discovery of Tamil inscriptions on various artifacts like coins and pot sherds, which serve as evidence of a literate society in ancient Tamil Nadu. It questions the lack of such inscriptions in North India and contrasts it with the abundance found in Tamil Nadu, suggesting a higher level of civilization in the region. The paragraph also discusses the recent Keezhadi excavation, which unearthed evidence of urban civilization, contrary to previous beliefs. The discovery of brick constructions and coins from this period challenges the notion that ancient Tamil Nadu lacked urban development and establishes the existence of a structured government during the Sangam era.
🏛️ Evidence of Ancient Tamil Kingdoms
The final paragraph focuses on the historical significance of Tamil inscriptions that mention kings from the Sangam literature, providing a direct link between these ancient texts and the actual rulers of the time. It discusses the discovery of inscriptions that name King Nedunchezian and other Chera kings, confirming their existence and the reality of the kingdoms they ruled. The paragraph also addresses the long-standing mystery surrounding King Sathyaputra's identity and how it was resolved through an inscription found near Thagadur. The summary concludes by emphasizing the importance of these findings in validating the historical accuracy of Sangam literature and the advanced civilization of the ancient Tamil people.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Tamizh
💡Sangam literature
💡Inscriptions
💡Archaeologists
💡Memorial stones
💡Pulimaankombai
💡Prakrit language
💡Literacy rate
💡Keezhadi excavation
💡Coins
💡Second Urbanization
Highlights
Tamizh language and script have been used consistently for over 2500 years.
Deciphering Tamizhi inscriptions proved the continuity of the language.
Sangam literature, if found in Tamizhi script, confirms its historical authenticity.
Archaeologists' efforts have been dedicated to proving the antiquity of Tamizh literature.
Tamizhi is unique among South East Asian languages for its ancient literature.
Ancient Sangam literature references memorial stones with names, reflecting respect for the deceased.
No memorial stones with Brahmi inscriptions have been found in Tamizh Nadu.
The discovery of three ancient memorial stones in Pulimaankombai dates back to the 4th Century BC.
The inscriptions on the Pulimaankombai stones are in pure Tamizh without any Prakrit influence.
The use of pure Tamizh in inscriptions indicates a high literacy rate among ancient Tamizh people.
Excavations in Tamizh Nadu have uncovered a wealth of Tamizhi inscriptions on various artifacts.
Over 800 pot sherds with Tamizhi inscriptions have been found, indicating widespread literacy.
The Keezhadi excavation revealed evidence of an urban civilization in ancient Tamizh Nadu.
Coins found in Keezhadi suggest the existence of a government and authority in ancient Tamizh Nadu.
Names of kings from Sangam literature were found in Tamizhi inscriptions, confirming their historical existence.
The inscriptions provide insights into the cultural practices and civilization of ancient Tamizh people.
The findings challenge the notion that Tamizh literature is a myth, proving it reflects the true lifestyle of ancient people.
The script found in the Indus Valley Civilization is similar to the 'Graffiti' found in Tamizh Nadu.
Transcripts
Except for a very few countable places in the world...
in most of the places, the language they spoke 2000 years ago and now wouldn't be same
But the people who lived in this land 2500 years ago..
spoke Tamizh language and not just that...
they also used Tamizhi script
And this truth was proved to the world by deciphering Tamizhi inscriptions
Not just that,whatever the Sangam literatures talk about ancient Tamizh language...
if those are found in Tamizhi script then Tamizh literatures are not just a myth
And it can be proved with evidence that it was ancient Tamizh people's culture
Our Archaeologists strived hard for years to prove this
Did they succeed?
Did they retrieve the evidences that proved the authenticity of Tamizh literature
Come, let's continue this journey
Tamizhi
The history might divide us by religion, caste and race
But Tamizh has never paved for any division
You are our heart, mind and soul; hail Tamizhi!
The fire that lights up our creativity;Tamizhi
Unlike in any South East Asian country..
the only language which has plenty of ancient literature is...
TAMIZH!
In these ancient Sangam literatures...
if we check for any mention about scripts...
literatures like 'Agananooru', 'Purananooru', 'Natrinai', 'Kurundhagai' mentions that...
for the people who sacrificed themselves for humans...
were laid to rest with all respects and paved with memorial stone carrying their names
This is mentioned in those literatures
The memorial stones found in Tamizh Nadu so far...
For eg. the memorial stones in Irulapatti belongs to Pallava era
Then recently in Porpanaikottai, another memorial stone was found
But never a memorial stone with Brahmi inscriptions was found
But Sangam literature speaks a lot about memorial stones
Hence, if Tamizhi inscribed memorial stones are found...
then Tamizhi's usage and existence during Sangam era will be proved
Prof. Rajan and crew were involved in the process to prove this
And in 2006 they found such a rare memorial stone
By the river Vaigai, in Batlagundu town, in a place called Pulimaankombai...
three memorial stones were found
Those were the most ancient memorial stones to be ever found in India
It's era is predicted to be 4th Century BC, that is even older than Mangulam inscriptions
Even Iravadham Mahadevan predicted those stones to be that old
Already he had predicted the era of Mangulam inscription to be 3rd century BC
So, these stones are older and could date back to the 4th century BC
The important factor here is that...
the inscriptions found on Sramana caves had Prakrit language mixed in them
(DHAMMA [Prakrit language])
But in the memorial stones found in Pulimaankombai...
had inscriptions without any Prakrit language's influence...
and was inscribed in pure Tamizh without any grammar errors
(An..ku..rr..Athan ...nn...An kal)
Some words, like "Aa kol"...
it wasn't even used in Sangam literature
It was only mentioned in Tholkaapiyam
So, such kind of pure Tamizh words were used in Tamizhi scripts
During Sangam era,Tamizh people with good literacy rate were well versed with script
This was mentioned in Sangam literatures...
and these three memorial stones proved that fact to be correct
Thus marking it as one of the most important turning point in Tamizh history
Apart from that...
excavations carried out in places from Sangam era, mentioned in Sangam literatures...
has given lot of evidences revealing the script knowledge of ancient Tamizh people
As far as North India is concerned...
except Ashokan edicts no other Brahmi inscribed artifacts were found
In any excavation no pot sherds with inscriptions or any such things were found
Except in few Buddhist Relic caskets where only few inscriptions were found
Hence, it was an unanswered question that if scripts were really part of their lifestyle
And why didn't they read and write?
But in a small region of Tamizh Nadu plenty of Tamizhi inscriptions were found
Similarly,Tamizhi inscriptions were found in coins and pot sherds
More than 800 pot sherds with Tamizhi inscriptions have been found so far
In recent Keezhadi excavation more than 70 pot sherds with Tamizhi inscriptions were found
Similarly in Aarikamedu excavation
So in Tamizh Nadu, excavation in Kanyakumari or near Chennai...
everywhere pot sherds with Tamizhi inscriptions were found
So, if you ask what does the Brahmi scripts on these pot sherds indicate?
It tells you about the society of the ancient people
These pot sherds are a proof of the literacy of the common people back then
Think of, who will write on pots and definitely not the kings
One who uses it, inscribes their name on it
Even today, in Tamizh Nadu, we see people inscribing their names on the materials they use
Especially in the silver plates, we see people getting their names inscribed
So what we have found are some similar named pot sherds
(Erasanthan)
(Santhan)
So how were all the ancient people educated. How were they well versed in scripts?
How did the ancient people learn all these?
What kind of institutions or tutors would have taught them remains to be a question mark
So, ancient Tamizh people being educated...
it clearly tells us that there must have been some kind of civilization there
There were similar civilization in North India too, such as Mahajanapadhas
But it is a mystery that why this script wasn't found on materials as inscriptions
But as far as Tamizh Nadu is concerned...
even common people back in ancient days were well versed in scripts
So, if ancient Tamizh people from Sangam era were well educated...
and the Sangam literatures mention many kings to have ruled then
Then the question "Was there any mention about these kings in Tamizhi inscriptions?"...
led some historians to strongly believe that no civilized kingdom existed during Sangam era
Since not many brick constructions were found in excavations in Tamizh Nadu...
was one of the main reasons the historians believed so
But the archaeological excavation that was carried out recently in Keezhadi,near Madurai...
gave enough evidences that broke their belief and...
re-wrote Tamizh Nadu's history and took all those historians by surprise
In the excavation we carried out last year...
we got evidences that proved an urban civilization existed
It was said that ancient Tamizh Nadu didn't have urban civilization...
i.e. Second Urbanization
The first urbanization was the Indus Valley civilization
So being next, the term Second urbanization is used
We proved the fact "Second urbanization didn't exist in Tamizh Nadu" to be wrong...
by carrying out this excavation
One of the strong evidence that proves the existence of second urbanization...
is "brick construction"
The historians claimed that no brick constructions were retireved from Tamizh Nadu so far
They say brick construction is the characterization of Urban civilization
So, they said no such brick constructions were retrieved in any excavations in Tamizh Nadu
But it was the first time in Tamizh Nadu...
plenty of brick constructions were found in Keezhadi excavation
Ancient Tamizh Nadu had urban civilization and second urbanization did exist
And that is what the Keezhadi excavation proved to us
We retrieved around 15 coins during this excavation
The coins are the proofs that a government existed during that time
Coins are proof that an authority existed
An authority that says 'You may exchange this coin, in the lieu of..'
Such an authority is formed and that is called Polity
That is what we call a government. That government set rules and gives the permission...
that using these coin you can make deals, trade and that is the evidence we got here
Thus, the evidence proved that ancient Tamizh Nadu had urban civilization
The Keezhadi excavation proved for the first time and at the same time...
names of the Kings, mentioned in Sangam literatures, who ruled such a civilized kingdom...
were also found in Tamizhi inscriptions and the Indian historians were awestruck by this
In ancient Tamizh literatures...
King Nedunchezian, who fought Aryan army and the battle of Thalaiyanangaanam
and many such Pandian kings' names were mentioned in many places
The name of this King Nedunchezian is found in this inscription
(Mangulam Tamizhi inscription)
This inscription that provides strong evidence that Pandian Kings ruled 2300 years ago...
is one of the most important inscription in Tamizh history
Near by Karur Vanji, which was the capital of ancient Chera kingdom...
this Tamizhi inscription is found in Pugalur
Of the names of kings mentioned in Padhitrupathu from Sangam literature...
names of three kings are mentioned in same order, in this Tamizhi inscription
(Selirumburai, Perunkadungo and Ilangkadungo - Chera Kings )
This inscriptions that confirms the existence of Chera kings during the Sangam era...
is considered to be one of the most important evidences in Tamizh history
In the kings mentioned by King Ashoka in his inscriptions...
we have a clear picture of who belongs to the Chera, Chozha and Pandia kingdoms
But to which kingdom does the name King Sathyaputra, in Ashoka inscription, belong to?
A question that was unanswered for a long time
Athiyamān, whose name is mentioned in Sangam literature...
is whom Ashoka has mentioned as 'Sadhiyabudho' claims few historians
But there was no evidence that could prove it
But near by Thagadur, where Athiyamān ruled...
in a place named Jambai, in this inscription that was found in 1981...
confirms that Ashoka indeed mentioned Athiyamān as 'Sadhiyabudho'
Thus this put an end to a mystery that lasted for years and also...
it confirmed the existence of King Athiyamān whose name is mentioned in Sangam literature
By deciphering these Tamizhi inscriptions...
the cultural practices of ancient Tamizh people, mentioned in Sangam literatures...
also writing knowledge, civilization and many evidences about kings were revealed
It was also proved that everything mentioned in Tamizh literature are not just myths...
in fact it was the true lifestyle of ancient Tamizh people. This was proved to the world!
So was Sangam era the first era where Tamizh people became civilized?
Was Tamizhi the first ever script that originated to write Tamizh language?
Do we find any evidences of ancient Tamizh people who lived before the 6th century BC?
If so, then what are the shocking truths those evidences will reveal about ancient Tamizh?
Let's continue this journey...
Tamizhi
(Lothal, Gujarat Indus Valley Civilization)
All religions are welcome here
The Tamizh boon! The Tamizh bond!
We all are the children of this world
Hail Tamizhi! For it's our way, our life and our bond
Long live Tamizh
All religions are welcome here
The Tamizh boon! The Tamizh bond!
We all are the children of this world
Hail Tamizhi! For it's our way, our life and our bond
Long live Tamizh
Our mother tongue is what unites us
Our mother tongue is our life
Oh my dear Tamizh, you are my strength
From North India and then in Tamizh Nadu, we find a type of script in this region
The script which we call as 'Graffiti!'
The Graffiti in Indus Valley civilization and...
the Graffiti in Tamizh Nadu...
both are almost same
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